


Fruit Loops

by SerenePhenix



Series: Shenanigan(g)s [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Everyone else is conspiring, Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Gen, Shiro wants in on the mystery, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenePhenix/pseuds/SerenePhenix
Summary: Shiro never stood a chance.





	Fruit Loops

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure crack and fluff. I also apologize for the quality. Writing has been a bit hard lately.

Shiro had no idea when exactly he had noticed something was amiss. Not amiss in the sense where Keith had broken one of his ribs and done everything in his power to cover up the whole unpleasant ordeal consisting of blue and violet bruises; Nor when he had hidden a written test from their parents after failing it and hoping that holding a burial for it in their local park would make his 2nd grade homeroom teacher forget about it, only to be sorely disappointed.

No. Shiro knew when his younger brother was trying to hide mess-ups: there would be averted eyes, tell-tale red dusting on the tips of ears covered by black hair, and slumped shoulders.

What Shiro was seeing now though - and that had to be the most absurd thing of all - was that not just Keith but every other person in their apartment seemed to be in on the secret that had all of them in an incredibly good mood.

And it was driving him up a wall. 

He was not sure when it started. There hadn’t been any signs. No skittishness, no nervousness. Nothing!

It left him puzzled and maybe even a little left out; spurred him all the more to get to the bottom of the mystery.

He kept his eyes open, his ears sharp but to his never-ending frustration his efforts yielded no results. For what the long years of having lived together were worth, Keith knew him inside out and each and every little one of his tricks and well disguised, innocent queries.

Also, Keith was no longer fourteen and as such Shiro felt it would be nothing short of rude and inappropriate to snoop around now that he was an adult. Also, that was generally Hunk’s field of expertise, and the very reason none of them left personal stuff lying around unguarded.

But still… he wanted in on the thing that had all of his friends almost glowing.

But on this morning, instead of brooding over his self-imposed riddle, he sat, coffee in hand, at the table of their rickety kitchen, tapping insistently at the rim of the cup with his finger, glaring at that greasy spot on the wall none of them could get rid of.

It was one of the few mornings where Hunk had to go off early for his biweekly lecture and where Shiro was left to his own devices to make himself breakfast, seeing as Keith and Lance had run off to their joint shift at the animal shelter.

The only other soul present was Pidge, and Shiro did not even dare entertain the idea of waking her up before eight – there was a reason she had not taken any of the morning classes.

He let out a yawn, sloshing the dark liquid around and watching a few bubbles gather at the center of the tiny whirlpool. It had been a long night and he realized that one cup would never be enough to wake him up until he would have to drag himself out and into his car.

The cupboard creaked a little as he blindly groped for the filter coffee, only to yelp when the package came toppling down on his head along with some cornflakes, both contents spilling on the floor and counter.

He just stood there, eyes clenched shut, taking deep, measured breaths through his nose. Morning was already proving to be the best part of the day it seemed.

“Brilliant. Just brilliant.”

He sighed, looking at the mess at his feet and turned to retrieve a broom when he noticed something he might have dismissed if he weren’t kneeling down to swipe the cornflakes into the dusting pan.

He frowned, inspecting the pellet that looked nothing like the multicolored and sugary loops that the box advertised.

He shrugged; deciding that it one of his friends had probably just used the box as a sort of stash. The trash’s lid windmilled as he tapped the pan against the rim to dislodge a bit of dirt, letting his eyes sweep over the floor one last time before deeming his duty to keep the kitchen spotless fulfilled.

He considered the bits of cornflakes still strewn across the counter. With a shrug, he reached for the mismatch of bowls in another cupboard, swept up a spoon out of their oversized mug slash open cutlery box, and quickly wiped the cornflakes off the counter, each clinking against the cheap ceramic.

Shaking the milk carton revealed there was barely any left, the content sloshing around in the pretty much empty container, and Shiro made a mental note to stop by the store and get some more after classes.

He didn’t even look as he shoveled the treat inside his mouth… and promptly spat it back out into his bowl.

His only saving grace was that Keith was not here to see or hear him. He had no idea what he looked like but his brother (and any of the others if he were being honest) would not let him live down his squawks and gagging while he tried to rinse this atrocity of a taste out of his mouth.

His hand found one of the rags they used for cleaning dishes, using it to dab off some excess water off his chin, before turning back to the offending bowl with wide eyes.

“What the…”

He felt his eyebrows almost disappear in his hairline as he inspected the unassuming, dark blobs soaking in milk, bringing it to his nose to sniff at the vile concoction.

Now that he’d taken the time to really examine it, he actually noticed the strong salty smell coming from the definitely not-cornflakes.

He frowned, getting the package and searching for clues but there was nothing. It wasn’t even remotely close to what the bright neon image advertised.

Decision made, he deposited the bowl inside the sink and made his way to Pidge’s room, hoping that even if she did not know what these things were, that she might be able to help him figure it out.

He knocked on her door, waiting until there came a muffled reply, gravely and heavy with sleep.

“Hey Pidge,” he began, getting into her room and watching out for potential tripping hazards, “I hoped that you could help me with…”

The words died in his mouth as a loud purr filled the entire room.

His eyes trailed up to its source and found a russet cat, perched on the bed on a swath of blankets which Shiro knew had to be Pidge.

He stared at the cat and the animal stared right back at him, until Shiro noticed the scar tissue running over the bridge of its nose and across both of its eyes that had grown shut.

Still, its other senses seemed to be sharp enough to know where Shiro stood and that all of his attention was on it.

The longer Shiro stared, the louder the purring seemed to get. Shiro, for his part, just stood frozen, his tired brain trying to process everything.

The cat, obviously bored by the lack of action, got up, stretched, its back arching, before sitting almost regally on its unsteady perch, before letting out a loud meow.

Pidge jerked upright, throwing the cat and blankets off, blinking at her surroundings. She smacked her lips, hand groping for her glasses.

Once she found them, she put them on.

Her squinted eyes fell onto Shiro and it seemed to take a few seconds for reality to catch-up with her sleep-fogged mind.

But when the cat came up to her chin and butted its head into hers, sudden realization dawning on her face, her eyes grew the size of literal saucers.

The chuckle she released was filled with paramount discomfort.

“Uhm, surprise?”

Shiro’s scowl, though aloof, did not stop the cat from nuzzling his legs, its purr strong.

“Spill.”

* * *

Shiro felt a sort of pride when the door to the apartment was opened and closed with such care and quiet that he almost did not catch it. It went to show that despite everything, despite Keith’s ongoing efforts to pretend he didn’t care about rules, he still did care about whether or not he had lied to his older brother.

“I know you’re there.”

There was a gasp, the jingle of keys being dropped and a curse that sounded too deep to be Keith’s.

Three heads poked into the room, wary expressions and sheepish smiles greeting him.

“Uh, hi, so how was your day?”

Shiro pretended to give Lance’s question some thought, his hand never stopping the motion it had been keeping up for half an hour now. Hunk, Keith and Lance stared at his lap with a muted sort of disbelief and wonderment.

“Pretty interesting if you ask me.”

Hunk gulped and Shiro’s grin became too obvious, so he instead focused his attention on the window, staring at the orange streak of the evening sky he could catch from this angle.

“There was this nice lady at the cafeteria again and I am pretty sure that I now have a monopoly on the entirety of the triple chocolate muffins.”

He did not even need to look at them, he could practically feel their nervous shuffling.

“Then I had to explain to one some kid in communication class that no, urban dictionary is not a viable source for writing a speech.”

“And finally,” he said, making a dramatic pause before scratching the cat’s chin, making his voice extra indulgent, “I learned that we have a new roomie no one bothered telling me about.”

His efforts were rewarded with a gentle mroow, his retreating hand being chased by a chocolate brown nose. Shiro gave in and resumed his petting, the cat settling back into his lap with a contended sigh and kneading paws.

His smirk had to be daunting despite his wholly unthreatening demeanor. It became obvious the moment he turned around and saw the boys exchange concerned glances.

“And how about you?”

Hunk gave a high-pitched, nervous laugh, while Keith and Lance seemed one second away from bailing.

The moment was broken by the sound of the toilet flushing. And sure enough, Pidge peaked through a small slit at them before coming out, heaving a sigh that made her shoulders drop several inches.

Shiro couldn’t get a look at the boys’ expressions once they’d turned to face her, but judging from Pidge’s raised eyebrow they had to be reproachful.

“No need to look at me like that.” She went around the hulking trio, all narrow-eyed and with pursed lips, as she plopped down beside Shiro and happily greeted the cat instantly changing resting place. “It’s not like I told him and honestly? If I get to be chewed out so do you guys. At least I warned you.”

Keith gave a groan so deep and pained it had to hurt his vocal chords.

“Please, just… let’s get this over with.”

He set in motion before the others, almost tripping up Lance and Hunk, and having to hold onto each other to avoid ending up in a graceless heap.

They stood before him like convicts awaiting their sentence. Shame that the cat had favored Pidge over him. What he wouldn’t give to play the evil mastermind stroking its regal feline.

Instead, he opted to put the jokes aside. He put his elbows on his knees, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, looking them straight in the eye, giving Pidge the barest of glances as well.

“Seriously though, why didn’t you guys just tell me?”

Because, in the short time Shiro had been able to spare before having had to leave for college, all he had gotten out of a flustered and severely sleep deprived Pidge were the absolute basics: that the cat wasn’t an entirely new addition, that it had been living in Pidge’s room ever since it had been brought here almost three weeks ago, that ,yes, it was house-trained, that, no, she had no idea what breed it was, and that Keith was the instigator of this mess.

Anything else, Pidge steadfastly refused to divulge, saying that if anything, the others should have a chance to suffer with her, since they were in on the little scheme. Shiro could admit that the argument had been far too convincing, far too promising to brush off.

And so, he’d let her off the hook, having waited patiently the moment he came back through the door and counting on his friends’ complicity to spread the new development over a group chat Shiro figured he was not privy to for obvious reasons.

All of which had led to this very moment.

Lance’s lips almost disappeared as he sucked them in, while Hunk twiddled his thumbs. Keith for his part, stared at the tip of his socked feet. Never let it be said though, that Keith did not acknowledge when he messed up.

“Listen,” he began, sounding small and almost resigned, “I know how you feel about animals but they were going to put her down and I just couldn’t let that happen.”

His dark-violet eyes came up to meet Shiro’s grey ones, a silent plea for him to understand.

“Wowowoh, wait,” Shiro said, briefly shaking his head before giving Keith a questioning look, “I’m not judging and I do understand your need to protect every animal that you come across, “ all except Keith let out knowing sniggers, “but what do you mean by _how I feel about animals_?”

Keith’s lost expression and rapid blinking was rather amusing.

“I mean… you don’t like keeping animals?”

Keith sounded unsure, just as unsure as Shiro felt as to where he had gotten that idea from.

When he failed to add anything to his brother’s remark, the latter went on.

“It’s just, I kind of thought you didn’t like animals since you always said no when I brought it up.”

And suddenly it made sense; because Shiro remembered every single time his baby brother had come up to him, big eyes full of hope and longing. It had hurt to deny him but Shiro had had to do everything in his power to make ends meet. And in none of his juggling with numbers to pay the rent, to have enough money for food and financing his and Keith’s education, was there ever enough to sustain another mouth to feed.

“Keith,” he said, getting up and putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder, Keith peeking at him through his bangs, “I did not mean that I’d never want to have a pet because I actually do,” he added quickly at the raised eyebrow, “but we couldn’t afford it at the time.”

Shiro had tried his hardest to give Keith as much of a carefree childhood as possible but they were both aware that it had never stopped Keith from catching Shiro brooding over coupons and carefully cut-out adverts with products on offer at their local store, or when they stood in a clothes store and inevitably got Keith the winter jacket when Shiro’s easy jacket was almost falling apart at the seams.

It was all Shiro could do to keep up appearances, to ensure that the system could not sink its greedy fangs into what remained of their small family to tear them further apart.

And then Shiro entered college and he befriended Matt and things had suddenly looked so much brighter.

“But things have changed and I’m actually all for keeping our new friend. I just would have wished you’d told me sooner, since I’ll have to inform our landlord*. I’m sorry I gave you the wrong impression or that you felt the need to keep this from me.”

Keith’s smile was nothing like the big-toothed smiles shared between Hunk and Lance, or Pidge’s downright impish grin, but it was there and full of the quiet happiness Shiro had come to love and appreciate over the years.

He turned back to the couch, crouching down so he could once again pet their red furred engine that was now to stay with them.

“Anyway, how did you get such a beauty?”

Keith opened his mouth but Lance was quick to jump in, almost falling over in his excitement.

“Well actually, Keith knew her since what? October?”

Wait…

“That long, huh?”

Keith caught onto the lilt in his voice, on the slight shift in his expression. The mortification dawning on his face was a masterpiece in the making.

Lance for his part, was oblivious to the kind of blackmail goldmine he had unwittingly provided Shiro with.

“Yeah, he also wouldn’t shut up about how much she liked him over everyone else.”

He glared at Keith with no heat, lips drawn into a pout. Keith though had all of his attention directed at Shiro.

Shiro felt his lips quiver. It started with a slight tremor before turning into an uncontrollable quake that had him biting his lips.

Everybody was looking at him in confusion but it was Keith mounting horrified embarrassment that sent him over the edge.

He burst into laughter. His whole frame shook and rocked, so much so that he toppled over and leaned onto the edge of their couch, howling still and clutching at his side with his free hand. The cat jumped off Pidge’s legs and zoomed out of the room like red lightning.

But none tried to chase after her, much too preoccupied with Shiro riding out his sudden fit

“You’re telling me that the cat you never shut up about, the cat you repeatedly told me was the greatest menace on Earth, is the one you bring back home with you? Oh my god that’s rich!”

He fell onto the cushions, laughing and laughing because honestly, this was how it had always been with Keith: the louder he complained, the more he’d actually come to care.

“So Red’s actually horrible?”

Shiro stilled, staring at Hunk who was throwing the opening through which said cat had disappeared a contemplative look.

Shiro’s grin grew and he was aware that he probably looked like the cat that got the canary if his friends’ wary glances were anything to go by.

He turned his attention to Keith and was more than elated to see him hide his face with a gloved hand, head dipped low as if the gesture might soften the blow to come.

“Isn’t it supposed to be Mario Mario?”

Keith seemed to literally deflate but remained utterly silent as Shiro dragged him.

“What?”

Shiro smiled wide at Lance, whose eyebrow had inched even further up his forehead.

He turned back to Keith and man did his cheeks hurt but this was far, far too good of an opportunity.

“I thought her name was Mario. You know, because you had to get her out from behind pipes?”

Keith’s skin, or whatever of it Shiro could glimpse, was flushing a deep crimson. It might even rival the glow of the cat’s chestnut fur quite nicely.

Pidge was trying hard to stifle herself but Shiro could see her eyes watering, shoulders shaking and quaking with the effort of sparing her friend the humiliation. Hunk and Lance knew no such restraint.

Hunk’s deep booming laughter chimed in with Lance’s high-pitched whinnying and Pidge all but snorted out a lung before she managed to bury he face in the ugly heart-shaped cushion.

Shiro felt rather than saw the weak kick to his shin, but it did nothing about calming him down.

“Mario Red! What a name,” Hunk wheezed out, while Lance hung off of him, still shaking and Shiro was a little worried if he’d just collapse if it weren’t for their friend supporting him.

Keith’s growl was exasperation in its purest form. Still, with no heat behind it, Keith clearly could not be that annoyed by their antics.

Slowly, they calmed down, somehow ending up on or at the foot of the couch, leaning onto each other, and Shiro had taken the opportunity to sling an arm around his baby brother so that he had him in a loose hug, Keith’s head resting on his shoulder.

Shiro listened to the chatter that had started up to his left, Hunk, Pidge and Lance discussing some thing or other, while he held onto Keith.

“Thanks.”

Shiro glanced down, expression inquisitive.

“For what exactly?”

The shrug jostled both of them a little and he had to keep a tight grip so that Keith would not end up on the floor with the way he was sprawled over the armrest.

“For not getting mad? For letting us keep Red? I’m not even sure,” he answered honestly before really looking at Shiro with an earnest expression, “but thank you.

He was tempted to ruffle Keith’s hair but let it be and instead just opted resting his cheek on top of his brother’s head, more to hide his smile more than anything else.

“Of course.”

“Oh yeah, Shiro,” the mischievous voice broke through their companionable silence, sending spikes of alarm through every muscle of his being “so how does kibble with milk taste?”

“Pidge!”

Too late. Keith already lay sprawled on the floor, laughing like there was no tomorrow, the others following soon after, and from the corner of his eye Shiro saw a red shadow slink into the kitchen.

Well, he thought, things were going to become even more interesting around here.


End file.
